Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) 93-megawatt-hour (MWh) storage system with 37 battery units located at HEA’s Soldotna Generation and Substation Facility. The system is capable of delivering 46.5 megawatts (MW) over a two-hour period when fully charged. The BESS was integrated into commercial operation in January 2022.
The BESS project is two years in the making and began when HEA signed an agreement with Tesla to purchase the system in late 2019. It will be used to balance system demands with its greater ability to deliver or receive energy (up to 46.5 MW per hour). This also allows base-loaded thermal units to be run more efficiently while allowing for increased integration of utility-scale non-dispatchable (energy generation that can’t be scheduled) renewable energy sources (i.e., wind & solar).